Vandals target Christopher High School in Gilroy

Vandals target a Gilroy high school, causing about $10,000 in damage. Over the weekend, someone ripped out artificial turf from their new stadium.

“It’s like a bald spot on the turf,” describes Marisela Villanueva, a Christopher High School sophomore.

Villanueva participates in track and field sports. She and her classmates at Christopher High School say they were blown away by the brazen vandalism that happened at their school.

“I heard people talking about the turf being pulled out and it’s kind of like, ‘Who would do that?'” Villanueva said.

The vandals only managed to get a 14 foot by 10 foot chunk of turf, but the damage is much greater than that.

“Somebody sliced a couple different lines within the track and we’re thinking they were trying to get a large corner, but it got too heavy,” said Paul Winslow, Christopher High School principal. “So they cut their losses and chopped out a chunk.”

The damage isn’t just on the solid surface. Winslow says it’s not just student athletes affected. It’s everyone at the school.

“I think this is something of pride for the school,” Winslow explained, “We just opened it. We haven’t had a track before and we are in year six already. So this was really one of the final steps for Christopher High to solidify its identity and then a couple months later, you find this. It’s a pretty low blow to our students.”

Students like Villanueva have choice words for whoever is responsible.

“It’s not cool and you shouldn’t have done it,” Villanueva said.

Because the school is near a busy road, school leaders hope anyone who say anything suspicious over the weekend comes forward. They are hoping to find whomever is responsible by offering a $1,000 reward. Anyone with information can call 800-78-CRIME.